Bengaluru: India is expected to launch in December next year the SAARC satellite, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘gift to the neighbours’, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Kiran Kumar today said.
The two-tonne satellite will have 12 Ku band transponders, with each dedicated to one country in the region for providing communication, education, tele-medicine, disaster monitoring and other need-based services.
PM Narendra Modi had in June last year asked ISRO to develop a SAARC satellite which can be dedicated as a ‘gift’ to the neighbouring countries to help them in areas such as tele-medicine, weather forecasting and communication.
He said five representatives from each country, including Pakistan participated in the meeting. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) is coordinating with its counterparts in the region on details of their needs.
The estimated time to build the satellite is 18 months. ISRO will build the satellite at its centre in Bengaluru and then launch the spacecraft from its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
“Each country will have some capability exclusive for them such as ground station for specific needs like direct-to-home (DTH) link and tele-connectivity,” Kumar added.
When asked about NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, Mr Kumar said “NISAR is a launch for 2021, committee meetings are going to take place again in July.”
The NISAR mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO optimised for studying hazards and global environmental change. Using advanced radar imaging, the satellite will also provide an unprecedented detailed view of Earth.
Bureau Report
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